Beat the Bloat meal plan

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Suffering from a bad case of bloating? Read on to discover our bloat-busting meal plans

Bloating abounds, with 83% of Australian women surveyed suffering its effects, but treating bloat is like choosing your own adventure. No two guts are identical; what causes you to inflate like a balloon may not affect others. Our individual digestive systems mean universal meal plans may misfire, so we talked to Charlene Grosse, Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) and Spokesperson for the Dietitians Association of Australia.

“See an APD,” Charlene says. “They can give [you] individual, expert dietary advice to help manage symptoms and to make sure, importantly, that it meets [your] nutritional requirements and needs. [...] We need to make sure we get that variety from all the food groups and substitute correctly.

“You just want to make sure it’s balanced, so we’re using foods from all of the core food groups: breads & cereals, fruits, vegetables, proteins – meat, chicken, fish or alternative – and your dairy products or alternatives.”

Here are Charlene’s basic building blocks for busting the bloat:

Breakfast

Try spelt toast, with strawberry jam, eggs or Vegemite. Charlene’s a fan of spelt bread because – sad but true – wheat can cause bloating. Happily most spreads are okay.

Porridge is an excellent cereal alternative.

Fruit smoothies with banana and yoghurt are delicious, nutritious and easy to prepare. Look for Activia, the only probiotic yoghurt specifically targeting digestive discomfort.

Who can go past a tasty egg omelette with spinach and tomato? Add a slice of spelt bread and you’ve covered all core food groups. Boom!

Fruit salad or a fruit plate with yoghurt is another good way to start your digestive day. If you’ve been diagnosed with lactose intolerance, try smaller serves of Activia or go lactose-free.

Lunch

Make a spelt sambo combo of salad and protein. Choices abound: egg, ham, tuna, cheese with salad; toasted ham and cheese with salad on the side; avocado with chicken or prawn – all yummy in your tummy.

If the thought of another tomato and cucumber salad makes you want to cry, mix it up with vermicelli noodles. Rice noodles and other bases such as quinoa jazz up salads with texture and flavour, so take advantage of alternative ingredients. Throw in some coriander for extra kick.

Nori rolls with tofu, salmon, tuna or meat, in white or brown rice, are also a top choice, particularly for lunch on the run.

Dinner

Charlene’s bombshell still has us reeling: eating less onion and garlic will help bust the bloat. She recommends embracing garlic-infused oils and red capsicum instead.

Take your protein source of choice – meat, chicken, fish, tofu – and team it with carrots, green beans and potato.

Rice and gluten-free pasta are both welcome additions to your nightly bloat-busting meal, as is quinoa.

Another surprise tip from our consulting APD: “Sweet potato in large quantities can cause bloating in some people too.”

Fructose and lactose are commonly cited troublemakers in the battle of the bloat, but members of a single household will experience the same meal completely differently. Eliminating an entire food group is not recommended. If you’re planning to overhaul the family menu, chat with your GP or an APD first.

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